


It's Just a Matter of Who Stands Up First

by Bestboiuwu



Category: Tron - All Media Types, Tron: Uprising
Genre: Renegade Mara
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:34:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27337255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bestboiuwu/pseuds/Bestboiuwu
Summary: "And even if, say, the first Tron, the original, is long gone, derezzed ages ago, which he isn't. There will always be people to take up the cause. To carry on the name."In a world where Mara becomes the Renegade instead of Beck.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6





	It's Just a Matter of Who Stands Up First

In the past milicycle, Mara has graphittied a statue, run from Clu's forces, been chased down the streets of Argon on her lightcycle, fought a very pretty lady to the almost-death, and fallen from the sky to yet another almost-death.

Which, really, would have been quite impressive, had she not immediately been captured by this asshole.

A shadowy figure looms above her, a pitch black suit with little to no light lines. She is kneeling on the floor, her hands cuffed behind her back.

"You know, your pageantry does nothing."

"I beg to differ," she says. If that were true, she wouldn't be here.

"Did you really think you could get away with what you did back there?"

"Yes. Still do." She wasn't derezzed yet, was she? There had to be a way out of here.

"You're not afraid?"

"No."

"You should be."

He takes her disk, now, and begins flipping through the memories. A display of the garage pops up. "This is where you work?" He continues flipping through the past few milicycles, and sees everything. The tail end of her shift, heading out to the park, disk games with Zed. The occupation arriving, Bohdi's derezzolution.

And the statue. Well, the statue was a work of art, really.

See, it doesn't take very much manipulation of code to alter something like that.

Really, it doesn't take much effort to paint over it.

While he's watching her disk, she takes out one of their tools from the shop and does her best to get working on the cuffs.

"You lost a friend. You were angry. But that doesn't explain why you would turn a statue of Clu into a statue of-"

"Tron?" She finishes. "I think it does. We've all heard the stories of the old system, how he stopped the MCP. Murdering innocent programs in the streets, doesn't that seem like the sort of thing the MCP would do?"

"You think Clu is like the MCP."

"Of course he is. Have you looked outside lately?"

He doesn't answer, instead continuing through her memories.

"Clu's forces didn't deter you?"

"They're not very hard to beat, actually."

He moves forwards through the memory.

"Except for the one that almost killed you and left you falling out of a helicopter."

"Granted." A few more levers on the lock click. She's making progress.

He's caught up to when he captured her, now, so the disk turns off and he drops it. It clatters to the floor in front of her.

"You understand this makes you an enemy of the state?"

"I don't want to  _ be  _ anyone's enemy. In a perfect world, everyone would be just and kind and equal. But we don't live in that world, and someone has to do something."

"And that someone has to be you?"

"No. It could be anyone. I'm just the first person to step up."

The figure takes a few steps, circling around her. She palms the tool, trying to hide it from his view.

"I see what you're trying to do. The statue. The emblem. You put up as many monuments to Tron as you want. But he's still dead."

"No, he's not."

"What makes you so sure?"

_ Click. _

"Because," she lunges forwards, grabbing her disk and scrambling to her feet. "Tron's not just a program. He's a symbol." She jabs at the figure a few times, who dodges effortlessly. "And even if, say, the first Tron, the original, is long gone, derezzed ages ago, which he  _ isn't _ " The figure continues to dodge all of her hits. "There will  _ always _ be people to take up the cause. To carry on the name." He grabs her and throws her to the ground. She recovers quickly, but not quickly enough. "Tron was the first program to fight for the freedom of the grid, and he won't be the last."

The figure's disk is at her throat. "If you are so sure that there are others, then why do your actions matter? Why would it matter If you were derezzed you right now?"

"Make no mistake," and she raises her disk to his, "I'm not going down without a fight. I have my own people to look out for. I have friends that are expecting me."

"And these 'friends.' They won't interfere with your cause? What if it comes between protecting them and continuing your fight?"

"I  _ am  _ protecting them. This is me, protecting them. What's the point of living if we don't get to be free?"

The figure tilts his head, in what is probably the most expressive movement he's made in the entire time she's been here. He looks almost…  _ pondering. _ Like he's considering her for something. He lowers his disk.

"Well, you're right about one thing," he says, and takes a step back. His helmet unfurls and his suit flickers from it's dark black to a blazing white, with white and blue circuits running all along him and forming a "T" on the chest, not unlike the one Mara is currently wearing (though, given the context, his was 10000x more significant).

"I'm not dead."


End file.
